Thermal imaging of catalyst surface during catalytic dehydrogenation of cyclohexane under spray-pulsed conditions

Infra-red thermographic imaging, a tool widely used for screening of active catalytic materials in the field of combinatorial chemistry, has been used during clehydrogenation of cyclohexane on Pt catalyst supported on active carbon cloth and alumite supports. A spray-pulsed reactor with injection of atomized cyclohexane and to create alternate wet and dry conditions on the catalyst surface was used in this study. Since the production rate of hydrogen via endothermic dehydrogenation reaction is greatly dependent on the temperature of the catalyst surface, the temperature profile of the catalyst is important to observe. The observed change in the temperature profile at wet and dry conditions with varying pulse injection frequency and corresponding product gas analysis reveals that the spray-pulse mode is useful in improving the catalyst activity. Further, the comparison between activated carbon support and a more conductive support such as alumite is reported using thermal imaging for more suitable support in this endothermic reaction. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd.